


Meeting Your Hero Can Earn You A Life-Time Friend

by heartinhand221 (Illusinia)



Series: Shake It All Off [1]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-27
Updated: 2015-01-27
Packaged: 2018-03-09 08:54:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3243728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Illusinia/pseuds/heartinhand221
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve is concerned about the little boy from next door who's climbing the tree in his yard. Little eight year old Phil gets a chance to meet the one man he's always wanted to quite by accident.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Meeting Your Hero Can Earn You A Life-Time Friend

**Author's Note:**

> So, this didn't fit in anywhere, but I wanted to write a story where Phil got to meet his hero as a kid and earned a life-time friend and role model in the process. So, yeah. Sorry if any of them are out of character. It was hard to get their voices right.

“Steve, could you come here for a moment?” requested Peggy from the kitchen, drawing his attention away from where he'd been sketching their dog, Bucky, splayed out on the couch. Said dog raised his ears a bit but otherwise didn't move from his reclined position. It almost made Steve laugh. Setting his sketch pad aside, Steve stood and headed into the kitchen.

 

Sticking his head through the kitchen doorway, he found Peggy standing at the back window, staring at something outside. Her hair was tugged back, eyes locked and a dusty bandana gripped in her had. His breath caught momentarily as it frequently did where Peggy was involved; even 30 years later, he still couldn't believe how lucky he was.

 

“Steven?” questioned Peggy, snapping him from his thoughts. She was smiling at him though, motioning for him to join her. “We have a visitor.”

 

“Is the cat back?” asked Steve, attention immediately caught as he joined her at the window. He remembered the adorable little tabby that they'd found in the backyard the night before, just after they'd moved in. However, it had run away as soon as Bucky had started barking and he hadn't seen it since. He had been hoping it would come back.

 

Shaking her head, Peggy pointed up at a tree in the next yard over. Said tree's branches hung out over the fence, hanging about their new backyard. It was something Steve had been meaning to talk to their new neighbors about; he just didn't want to bring it up the first time they met.

 

Now, however, there was a baseball in said tree's branches. However, that wasn't what Peggy was pointing to. No, she was pointing to a little boy who was climbing the tree.

 

He was maybe seven or eight with messy hair and dressed in a t-shirt with an all too familiar pattern printed on the front. Steve had carried a shield with that exact pattern for too long during the war. He'd honestly been relieved when his shield ended up in the Smithsonian museums.

 

With great caution, the little boy was edging out onto the branch towards the baseball. The branch shook a little with each small move the boy made, threatening to break beneath his weight. It was honestly a little worrying to watch.

 

“Why don't we go help him?” suggested Peggy, patting Steve's arm and opening the back door.

 

Steve nodded, stepping out into the yard ahead of Peggy. The little boy was about halfway along the branch now, which was beginning to bow slightly. It was making Steve more than a little uneasy; they didn't need someone falling out of a tree in their backyard before they'd even finished unpacking. “Hey son, o you want some help?”

 

In the tree, the little boy jumped and wobbled precariously, shaking on the branch unsteadily for a second before teetering off. Steve didn’t even think before he bolted forward, catching the little boy as he fell. The boy's weight would have knocked Steve over if he weren't as strong as he was. Behind him, Steve could hear Peggy's rapid footsteps approaching.

 

When he turned to face her, concern was clearly present on her face. “Is he alright?”

 

“I don't know,” admitted Steve, looking down at the little boy in concern. The boy blinked back up at him shakily, shock written across his face. “Are you alright?”  
  


The little boy nodded slowly, eyes going wide as he finally seemed to focus on Steve. Steve smiled back, carefully setting the boy on the ground. “Good. Then let's see what we can do about getting your ball down.” Glancing at Peggy, Steve started to ask about a ladder when a muffled gunshot echoed through the yard followed by the baseball hitting the ground.

 

He must have looked horrified, however, because Peggy shrugged and went back towards the house. “The ladder is missing.”

 

Shaking his head, Steve retrieved the amazingly undamaged ball and held it out to the little boy. “Peggy is always finding creative solutions to problems.”

 

“T-thanks,” thanked the boy, carefully taking back his ball.

 

“You're welcome,” returned Steve, smiling gently and offering his hand. “I'm Steve by the way.”

 

“Phillip,” responded the boy, shaking Steve's hand carefully. “Everyone calls me Phil, though.”

 

Chuckling, Steve stood and gently guided Phil to the side gate. “Be careful in the future. I don't want you falling out of that tree.”

 

“I will sir,” stated Phil, the shock wearing off some as his look shifted to awe. “Um, sir?”

 

“Yes?” asked Steve, opening the gate to let the little boy out.

 

Phil blushed a little, his voice shaking slightly as he spoke. Steve couldn't tell if it was because the boy was nervous or excited though; there was a look of almost unrestrained hope in his eyes though. It was enough to make Steve answer yes regardless of the question. Peggy was right, he really was a teddy bear sometimes. “Are you- are you Captain Steve Rogers?”

 

Smiling, Steve nodded as a faint blush bloomed over his cheeks. He still wasn't used to people recognizing him out of uniform. It had been twenty years since the war, but the recognition he'd gained as a symbol of the American front would never be easy for him to accept. “That's what they used to call me. Now though, it's just Steve. I'm not in the military anymore.”

 

The excitement from before bubbled over in that moment, blossoming across Phil's face as if he'd just been given the best present ever. It was almost a little unnerving, though Steve would never say so. The boy was exactly that: a boy. Children always got the most excited when they met him. “You're a hero!”  
  


“I used to be,” confirmed Steve with an uneasy laugh. “Now, I mostly push papers.” Urging the little boy out of the gate, Steve stepped out after him. “You should head home before your parents get worried.”

 

Phil's face fell a little as he glanced back at his house sadly. “My parents aren't home right now and I don't have a key.”

 

Steve's face fell at the sad look hat crossed Phil's face. It did explain how he'd made it so far into the tree. “Well, when will they be back?”

 

“Mom went to the store and dad is at work,” replied Phil unhappily. “I don't know when mom will be home.”

 

Nodding, Steve ruffled Phil's hair a little and clapped the boy on the shoulder. “Tell you what, let's leave a note for your mom so she knows where you are and you can stay here until she gets home.”

 

“Really?” asked Phil, hope and surprise crossing his face.

 

“Really,” confirmed Steve with a smile. “Let's go see if Peggy found the paper.”

 

\-----------------------------

 

“So you just moved in?” asked Phil as he watched Steve pick up several boxes to take upstairs. The little boy grabbed a smaller one, determined to help, and followed as Steve started upstairs.

 

“From New York,” confirmed Steve, turning as he hit the top of the stairs and setting the boxes down along the wall.

 

It was nearly a wall of boxes at this point, all needing to go into various rooms on the second level and attic. Most were things for their kids, stuff they were holding onto when they got grandchildren, but some off it was important papers too, things to be locked away. Peggy had more confidential documents than he wanted to think about.

 

Phil copied him, setting the box against the wall besides the ones Steve had stacked and blinking up at him for clear instruction. “But the city is so big and exciting!”

 

“It is,” agreed Steve with a chuckle, turning face Phil. He didn't need a break, but the little boy looked a little ruffled. And he just knew the boy would pick up his box as soon as Steve started moving things around again. “But when you're old like me, a place like that can have a lot of ghosts. Plus, Peggy got transferred up here.”

 

The little boy's eyes went wide. “Ms. Peggy works?”

 

“More than me these days,” confirmed Steve, picking up the top two boxes and setting them beside a door across the hall. “Even she's talking about retiring in a few years though.”

 

“My mom doesn't work,” remarked Phil like the idea was somehow foreign. “My dad does, but mom stays home to take care of me.”

 

“Peggy did that for a little while,” informed Steve as he thought of their son, who was working back at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and their daughter who worked with Howard Stark as a security consultant. “But she went back eventually and I stayed home more.”

 

“Wow,” stated Phil in complete awe. “I wish my dad was home more. He's a police officer and he's always gone.”

 

Smiling sadly, Steve picked up the last box from his pile and almost laughed when Phil did the same. “Well, you're welcome by any time you want.”

 

The way Phil's eyes lit up and excitement crossed his face, Steve suspected he would definitely see Phil again soon.

 

\---------------

 

Phil was at the house again two days later, offering to help them unpack. Steve ended up teaching him how to make cookies. Peggy was not amused by the state of the kitchen when they were done.

%MCEPASTEBIN%


End file.
